2008 in Review
The year 2008 was an interesting year for us. Nancy got a new job as a reservations agent with a major airline. It's been an interesting experience for her, to say the least. Sure, she's had more than her fair share of jerks, morons, and those special individuals who think that the louder they shout, the more likely they are to get the person answering the phone to cave in and give them what they want. On the other hand, she gets to work from home, so that's been pretty cool—especially when gas was up over $4.00 per gallon. Overall, I think it's been a positive experience for her.
I've been keeping busy too. I'm working on my Master's Degree in Education from Western Governors University. I'm hoping to do my student teaching in September and to have the full degree wrapped up by the end of next year. I'm also working a couple of part time jobs. I'm still at the market research company, where I've been serving as the Quality Assurance manager. I've also been getting training over the past couple of months on our computer system. The powers that be essentially want to move our IT guy to the downtown headquarters and have somebody, namely me, take care of all the day-to-day stuff at the call center. So that's been interesting, and educational. I'm also doing quite a bit of substitute teaching, primarily for science classes. No surprise there, I suppose.
As interesting as 2008 was for us in terms of work and school, it was even more interesting where church was concerned. We learned in February that our chapel, built more than 50 years ago, was going to be decommissioned and demolished. Two of the seven Wards (congregations) in our Stake were to be dissolved and combined with the remaining five Wards. Our Ward gained about 2/3 of one of those two Wards in the process, effectively doubling our membership. We subsequently moved to another building in the Stake and got a new Bishop in the process. That Bishop, who had been a Mission President, was a task-oriented, results-driven man who was just what the Ward needed to get through the transition. Then he and his family moved in the summer, and we got another Bishop. And then in October, we found out that the Church is going to build us a Stake Center. To do it, however, they'll have to demolish one of the buildings in the Stake—that's right, the one to which our Ward had moved in February—and build the Stake Center in its place. So we moved again. For those keeping track, that makes three Bishops and three buildings in 2008. I've never experienced or even heard of such a thing before.
And now for a word or three about the rest of the family. My parents are doing well. Mom is enjoying her retirement, filling her time with weekly visits to my niece's elementary school class and occasional trips to the mountains (i.e., the casinos) with friends. Dad is working with a feed company and spends a lot of time working with ranches in New Mexico. They are particularly enjoying the new house they moved into just over two years ago. It's a nice place. As a side note, I think they've seen every episode of "The Deadliest Catch" that's ever been made.
My younger brother Aaron is living in a group home in Colorado Springs. He fell down a flight of stairs a year and a half ago and went into a coma from which the doctors didn't think he'd ever awake. I think it's fair to say that he's recovered a lot further than any of us had dared hope. He's functioning at a very high level, but he's frustrated that he can't do more. I don't know that he'll ever recover to the point where he was before the accident, but he's made a lot of progress so far. We all had a nice visit with him in November.
My youngest brother, Sam, got married last June. His house got hit by a tornado two weeks before the wedding, so the occasion was a bit more subdued than may have been expected. But he and Kendra didn't waste time feeling sorry for themselves; they got to work and made the best of the situation. It was a fantastic wedding. And long overdue—they'd been dating for longer than Nancy and I have known each other! The two of them are just awesome.
I suppose that covers it. 2008 had its fair share of challenges and rewards, trials and opportunities. I expect that 2009 will be much the same. I look forward to sharing the coming year with all of you. Best wishes to you all for a happy, safe, and prosperous new year.
I've been keeping busy too. I'm working on my Master's Degree in Education from Western Governors University. I'm hoping to do my student teaching in September and to have the full degree wrapped up by the end of next year. I'm also working a couple of part time jobs. I'm still at the market research company, where I've been serving as the Quality Assurance manager. I've also been getting training over the past couple of months on our computer system. The powers that be essentially want to move our IT guy to the downtown headquarters and have somebody, namely me, take care of all the day-to-day stuff at the call center. So that's been interesting, and educational. I'm also doing quite a bit of substitute teaching, primarily for science classes. No surprise there, I suppose.
As interesting as 2008 was for us in terms of work and school, it was even more interesting where church was concerned. We learned in February that our chapel, built more than 50 years ago, was going to be decommissioned and demolished. Two of the seven Wards (congregations) in our Stake were to be dissolved and combined with the remaining five Wards. Our Ward gained about 2/3 of one of those two Wards in the process, effectively doubling our membership. We subsequently moved to another building in the Stake and got a new Bishop in the process. That Bishop, who had been a Mission President, was a task-oriented, results-driven man who was just what the Ward needed to get through the transition. Then he and his family moved in the summer, and we got another Bishop. And then in October, we found out that the Church is going to build us a Stake Center. To do it, however, they'll have to demolish one of the buildings in the Stake—that's right, the one to which our Ward had moved in February—and build the Stake Center in its place. So we moved again. For those keeping track, that makes three Bishops and three buildings in 2008. I've never experienced or even heard of such a thing before.
And now for a word or three about the rest of the family. My parents are doing well. Mom is enjoying her retirement, filling her time with weekly visits to my niece's elementary school class and occasional trips to the mountains (i.e., the casinos) with friends. Dad is working with a feed company and spends a lot of time working with ranches in New Mexico. They are particularly enjoying the new house they moved into just over two years ago. It's a nice place. As a side note, I think they've seen every episode of "The Deadliest Catch" that's ever been made.
My younger brother Aaron is living in a group home in Colorado Springs. He fell down a flight of stairs a year and a half ago and went into a coma from which the doctors didn't think he'd ever awake. I think it's fair to say that he's recovered a lot further than any of us had dared hope. He's functioning at a very high level, but he's frustrated that he can't do more. I don't know that he'll ever recover to the point where he was before the accident, but he's made a lot of progress so far. We all had a nice visit with him in November.
My youngest brother, Sam, got married last June. His house got hit by a tornado two weeks before the wedding, so the occasion was a bit more subdued than may have been expected. But he and Kendra didn't waste time feeling sorry for themselves; they got to work and made the best of the situation. It was a fantastic wedding. And long overdue—they'd been dating for longer than Nancy and I have known each other! The two of them are just awesome.
I suppose that covers it. 2008 had its fair share of challenges and rewards, trials and opportunities. I expect that 2009 will be much the same. I look forward to sharing the coming year with all of you. Best wishes to you all for a happy, safe, and prosperous new year.
posted by Michael at
12:45 PM
1 Comments:
Interesting update Michael! Congrats on your hard work for your teaching degree. Your comments about your wife taking travel reservations instantly made me think of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry tells the auto rental clerk that they are very good at TAKING reservations, but not very good at KEEPING reservations! Hope she doesn't have to deal with too many of those situations. Best of luck in the New Year!
By
The Bumbles, At
January 01, 2009 4:47 PM
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